IRC's federation is closed - you can't just spin up a new server and join Freenode unless you work for them. Matrix's federation is open (like email, or XMPP)

IRC's federation is closed - you can't just spin up a new server and join Freenode unless you work for them. Matrix's federation is open (like email, or XMPP) - anyone can spin up a server and own their own conversations :)